Joining: Those interested in joining the tournament should send an email to
john@gameaholics.com as soon as
possible. Deadline for entries for the first round is March 31st,
2018 at 6 pm
Eastern Standard Time (UTC-05).
Late entrants will not be accommodated after pairings have been posted. The
sign-up email should include your name, your
SpielByWeb name, the email address
you wish to use, and an indication that you've read through and agree to this
format.

All games will be played using the free Hoity Toity game facilities on
SpielByWeb. All players must join
that site and provide the GM with their login name. There is no cost to
join
SpielByWeb. As soon as
possible, players should join SpielByWeb.
Although the interface is simple, some players may wish to play in a practice game there to
familiarize themselves with the rules and the mechanics of the game and the
website. SpielByWeb is unforgiving -- you can't take back a decision once
it's been selected. Errors cannot be retracted. Players are warned
to carefully take their turn and to realize the "back" button does
not undo a
move. On the other hand, players will find that the interface is very
simple and makes the game very easy to play remotely.

Starting a Game: As each round begins, the first player to log onto
SpielByWeb will be responsible for creating
the game using the name, comment, and number of players provided by the GM. That
player will select a password of his/her own choosing and email it to the GM and other
players in the game. The other players will join that passworded-game
on SpielByWeb.com
(by clicking on "games list" then "passworded-games" and then the
"join" option
available adjacent to their assigned game). Note: Passwords are caSe-senSitivE. Colors
and starting sets will be assigned randomly by SpielByWeb.

All players will compete in five preliminary,
simultaneous rounds.

Preliminary Rounds: 5Participants: No Limit (a minimum of 25 is required)Rounds Begin: All five rounds begin on the start date. Pairings will
be posted by 11 pm EST. Players are requested to join all of their games
within 48 hours.
Round Length: 9 weeks*Players: 4-5 per gamePairings: Players will be assigned to their first games randomly, though family members
and friends should request placement in different games. Such requests
will be honored as far as possible. No 3- or 6-player games will be used.
As few games as possible will use 4 players. The GM will attempt to ensure
that each player plays in a minimum number of four-player games (and that no
player plays in more than one more 4-player game than any other player).
Participation: Each player is encouraged to check into SpielByWeb once per day
(except when SpielByWeb has been notified of a player's absence/vacation).*Absence/Vacation: To notify SpielByWeb
that you'll be unavailable, click on "Going Away?" after logging in. Then
select the calendar date when you'll return. While you're unavailable,
SpielByWeb will put a suitcase next to your ID that will show other plays when
you'll return whenever they mouse-over the suitcase icon. When you return,
click on "Back?" and then click on "[Mark Yourself Here]".
Players who use this feature properly will not be cited for "delay of game."Drop Outs: Players may drop out at the completion of their current games
and may ask the GM not to assign them to additional games at any time. Players should
plan to finish each game that they start.AREA: All games will be AREA-rated.Scoring: The scoring for each game is the same as the World Boardgaming Championships:

# of Players

Place

Points

5 Players

1st

5

2nd

4

3rd

3

4th

2

5th

1

4 Players

1st

5

2nd

4

3rd

2

4th

1

*Slow players will be penalized one point per week if and only if a game runs over the
9-week time limit. A "slow player" is defined as one generating more than
one complaint within a game or more than two complaints within the tournament.
A valid complaint is one which is made after the game has been waiting on a single
player, who has not signaled vacation on SpielByWeb, for more than 48 hours (i.e., the last game
update must be more than 48 hours ago). Most games should
finish in six weeks or less. I request that players stay on top of this for
their games -- nothing ruins a game more than long waits.

Advancement: The ten entrants with the top total scores after the five
preliminary rounds advance to the semi-finals.Tie-Breakers: If the top ten entrants cannot be determined solely based on
total points (which is likely), the tie-breakers will be used in the following order:

Total spaces a player has advanced beyond the "finish line." (The is
the line that triggers the final exhibit. Only spaces beyond the line
are counted even though spaces short of the line will also be reported.
Since one can never end on the line, this number is never zero.)

Players who created a tournament game on SpielByWeb
(named and commented per the instructions) and notified the GM of the password
and SpielByWeb game #.

Total size of all final sets. The size of each player's final set in
each game (not including cards which cannot be exhibited).

Total number of cards held at the end of all games.

Oldest card held in any final set, Second oldest card held in any final
set, and so on to the fifth oldest card held in any final set.

Current AREA rating

All points and tie-breakers will be reported on this website
as games end. I doubt we'll ever need anything beyond the second
tie-breaker (as the first eight completed tournaments have demonstrated).

Semi-Final Begins: June 10th, 2018 (or sooner if the
preliminaries finish earlier)Semi-Final Format: All semi-finalists will play two simultaneous games
(so that each may play 6-7 of the other 9 semi-finalists). Family members
will be placed in separate games if possible. All winners advance to the
final. The highest second-place finishers (using the tie-breakers above as
necessary) advance to fill the remaining seats
(with the intent that the final will have five players). No third-place
finisher will advance (even if it means the final proceeds with only four
players).
Final Begins: August 19th, 2018 (or sooner if the semi-finals finish earlier)Final Format: The final will be a one-game, winner-take-all affair
designed to conclude by October 10th.

Trophy: The champion will receive an "Adel Verplichtet" PBEM Championship Plaque
from the Boardgame Players' Association (either by mail or in person at the World Boardgaming Championships'
tournament in July 2019). 2nd through 5th places
will be determined by finish in the final. 6th place will be awarded to
the top finisher in the semi-final games who didn't advance to the final.
The Top 6 places will receive BPA Laurels.

I hope you all enjoy your games and have fun in the tournament! Please
contact John Pack with any comments or questions
regarding the format, game engine, rules, or play as the games progress.

Players of any version of Adel Verpflichtet, By Hook or by Crook, and Hoity
Toity should easily adapt to the SpielByWeb engine. However, there are a
few details worth noting before beginning that I'll summarize here.

Sequence of Player Actions

1. All Players choose a Location (Castle or Auctionhouse).
2. All Players choose an Action (Exhibit, Thief, Detective, or Check).
3. The Highest Bidder at the Auctionhouse, if any, selects an Item.
4. Exhibitors at the Castle, if any, select items for their exhibits.
5. In order, Thieves at the Castle, if any, select items from each exhibit, if any.

All other "actions" are handled automatically by the game engine since they
involve no player choices. As a result, players will want to either check in more
often than required or to read their email notification carefully to see what
happened since their last move. Note: It's possible that some or
all of Steps 3-5 will not be required on any given turn -- in which case,
players proceed directly to the next step (or next turn)!

Initial Checks and Thieves

The colors are a bit different than in Adel Verpflichtet and By Hook or by
Crook. Here's the opening card inventory for each Hoity Toity color and
how that compares to the original games:

Hoity Toity
Color

Initial
Checks

Thieves

Adel Verpflichtet
Color

By Hook
or by Crook
Color

Green

24

13

12

1

7

6

Yellow

Yellow

Blue

23

14

11

2

8

5

Blue

Blue

Black

22

15

10

3

9

4

Purple

Black

Red

21

16

9

4

10

3

Red

Red

Yellow

20

17

8

5

11

2

Green

Green

Purple

19

18

7

6

12

1

Doesn't Exist

Doesn't Exist

The thieves of each original color are one line below that color in this
table.

Other Differences

The two Auctionhouse decks are not split when one runs out on SpielByWeb;
thereafter, there is only one option at the Auctionhouse.

Purple is not used when there are only five players. Interestingly,
Black is not used when there are only four players!

Note:
Successful detectives advance based on current place (not position) just as
they do in the original rules and at the World Boardgaming Championships. See
this SpielByWeb
forum for details.

Now you're ready to play! Get ready for some seriously fun competition!